Grawunder Ariport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bellville, Texas 77418
Thursday, October 10, 1996 19:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The dark night approach was executed to the 2,500-foot runway which had trees and transmission lines at the approach path. The pilot stated that the approach was made with the flaps retracted and 'during the landing flare/touchdown, the airplane stalled from about 10 to 12 feet above the ground, the left wing struck the ground, the left main gear collapsed and the airplane departed the runway.'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall. Factors were the dark night conditions and the pilot's failure to lower the flaps.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/10/1996
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1930
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City BELLVILLE
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77418
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport GRAWUNDER ARIPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 06R
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 253
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1536
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 10 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2109
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N179DP
NTSB Number FTW97LA015
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model BE-55B
Aircraft Series Identifier BE-55B
Aircraft Serial Number TC-852
Certified Max Gross Weight 5100
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6112
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WELTON E. HILL
Aircraft Owner Street Address 522 DOGWOOD ACRES
Aircraft Owner City BELLVILLE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77418
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code T72
Departure City HEARNE
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1850
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 06R
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --